Padikkal enjoyed a fruitful tour of Sri Lanka by scoring back-to-back centuries in India’s 1-0 series win in Sri Lanka and even took the Player of the Series award. India top-order batter Devdutt Padikkal believes putting in consistent performance is the only way for him to hold onto a spot in the national Test side, adding that as long as he scores runs and helps win the team matches, his place in the line-up will remain secure. With his compact technique and penchant to make runs quickly, Padikkal impressed at number three in B Sai Sudharsan’s absence.
India top-order batter Devdutt Padikkal believes putting in consistent performance is the only way for him to hold onto a spot in the national Test side, adding that as long as he scores runs and helps win the team matches, his place in the line-up will remain secure.
With India facing a busy home Test calendar via trip to New Zealand and hosting Australia for a five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series early next year, Padikkal signed off by saying that consistent run-scoring remains the only metric to maintain a spot in the national side.
“The fact that I was told at the start of the series that I was going to be playing was really exciting, and I felt like, personally, I was at the best stage of my career in terms of the way I was batting, so I was really looking forward to it,” Padikkal told JioStar. Addressing the scrutiny that comes with batting in the crucial number three slot, a slot made famous by batting stalwarts Rahul Dravid and Cheteshwar Pujara, Padikkal said he prefers to remain unbothered by comparisons with legends who preceded him. But at the end of the day, I’m going out there and just playing my cricket, and as long as I’m enjoying that, I think everything will fall into place,” he said.
“Definitely, I was looking forward to it. Obviously, those opportunities don’t come very easily. It takes a lot of hard work to make sure that you are continuing to improve yourself and waiting for that opportunity. I had to make sure that I was ready whenever I got it. “At the end of the day, it’s about going out there and batting. It doesn’t matter what position I’m batting at, I’m trying to contribute to the side. “Yes, obviously, there have been great players who have played at number three for India over the years, and I’m sure there’ll be a lot more scrutiny on me and a lot more comparisons made. “As long as I’m scoring runs, I think it always benefits the side. Test cricket is not the easiest format, as we all know, so you have to keep performing day in and day out. You get limited opportunities these days, and it’s not very easy to cement a place in a side.
